Background
The hoped-for return to growth, following the financial crisis of 2008, has yet to become established. But despite, or possibly because of this, businesses are spending again on IT. Amongst the current economic landscape, a recent report from the CBI demonstrates that in the year ahead, many firms are planning to invest in IT, but scaling back spending on other items such as land, buildings, vehicles, plant and machinery. Across the private and public sectors, technology and the way it can transform business continues to be at the forefront of Board agendas. In times of uncertainty, IT matters again.
Key findings
The challenge for each organisation is to identify where IT matters the most. Four areas that matter in today's business environment and that can help your organisation identify competitive advantages include;
- Business driven delivery of large scale IT projects: The balance between short and long term business change programmes and IT investments should be strategically addresses, with a new change delivery model that is "agile at scale"
- Innovation and analytics: Advanced analytics is one area that demonstrates that innovation requires a continuous response and search for the next differentiator
- New models for sourcing and contracting: Sourcing and contracting strategies should capitalise on changes within the technology industry, and businesses should continually review the approach to both commodity sourcing and the integration of specialist suppliers
- IT leadership and talent: Leaders must fundamentally re-visit their talent strategy by more clearly understanding IT talent, both inside and outside the organisation; this will help ensure the building of internal strategic career paths and the emergence of the next generation of technology leaders.
IT matters again (PDF)
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